Starting with the conclusion:
It can be done. And it's more possible now than ever.
Because the essence of entrepreneurship is not the type of technology, but rather how fast and accurately you can create a product.
And the technology that excels the most in the world at this is Ruby on Rails.
1. Rails is the "entrepreneur's framework"
Rails was originally designed as a "development framework for startups".
Its structure is designed as follows:
Fewer people
Shorter time
Lower cost
Quick feedback
Product-centric thinking
Fastest MVP development speed
It's a well-known fact that a significant number of the world's most famous services started with Rails.
GitHub
Shopify
Airbnb in the early days
Twitch in the early days
SoundCloud in the early days
Basecamp
Cookpad
Hey.com
These companies started with Rails, and they have already proven that their choice was not wrong.
Rails is actually considered a "product development tool for startups" because it is optimized for creating initial products.
2. Why is Rails an entrepreneur's weapon? (Evidence-based)
It has the fastest development speed among all frameworks
When developing a single feature, Rails is 1/3 to 1/10 times faster than other languages.
In other words,
While others work for 3 months,
you can have a feature in just 1 week.
It allows for minimal workforce
From Backend + Frontend + DB + API to deployment,
one person can do it all with Rails.
In other words,
It's a language that allows you to start a company on your own.
It has low maintenance difficulty
Due to Rails conventions structuring the code,
the code does not quickly become messy.
The process of developing features is very intuitive
ActiveRecord, scaffold, RESTful structure...
Everything is designed to match the structure of the human brain,
allowing entrepreneurs to think of features and implement them immediately.
It aligns very well with the AI era
Rails has clear and consistent code style,
making it optimal for AI to write and maintain Rails code.
In other words,
In the era where AI is used like a co-founder, Rails expands the fastest.
3. "Can you start a company with this technology?"
→ Absolutely possible.
And historically, Rails has created the most entrepreneurs.
Creating a small MVP with Rails → Launching → Feedback → Improvement → Repeat
This cycle is so powerful that
SaaS products created by solo developers are rapidly increasing worldwide.
Even now, the following products are being operated by Rails teams of 1-2 people:
SaaS generating millions in revenue
B2B data services
Education/community platforms
Subscription-based small services
Rails perfectly fulfills the formula of "small team + rapid iterations = increased chance of success."
4. "Can you become a unicorn with the minimum number of people?"
In fact, this question is the most important.
Conclusion:
It's possible. And it's more possible now than ever.
There are three reasons for this.
(1) The era where AI replaces development, design, and operation costs
The tasks that could be done by 1-2 entrepreneurs + AI have increased more than tenfold compared to the past.
In the past:
10 developers
3 designers
2 planners
5 operators
3 infrastructure engineers
This structure that was needed
is now reduced to:
1-2 entrepreneurs + Rails + AI tools + Cloud
Rails has a simple structure,
making it very easy for AI to understand and maintain the code.
In other words,
One person can do the work of 10. With two people, it's like having 50 people.
This is not an exaggeration.
There are already numerous practical examples.
(2) Rails can handle the growth of services
Shopify is currently a multi-trillion-dollar company.
And they still use Rails.
The scale of Shopify is as follows:
Tens of billions of transactions per day
Millions of stores
Hundreds of thousands of app ecosystem
Those who claim that there are "scalability issues" with Rails
have not actually used Rails.
In other words, even unicorn companies can be achieved with Rails.
(3) The key to startup success is not 'technical superiority' but 'rapid iterations'
The condition for a unicorn is not technology.
It is Product-Market Fit (PMF).
Rails makes the process of finding PMF
the fastest among all frameworks.
Creating quickly → Launching → Improving → Repeating → Growing
Rails is the 'accelerator' of this cycle.
5. Example of a realistically possible team composition
A realistic composition for "Can a unicorn be achieved with the minimum number of people?":
1 person: Rails full-stack (Founder/CTO)
Capable of 100% product development
AI code automation
Quick MVP creation
Minimized server management
1 person: Business/Sales (Co-Founder)
Market research
Partnerships
Sales
Strategy
With just these two people,
you can enter the global market.
And if needed:
AI
Design assistance
Marketing copywriting
Development code assistance
Data organization
Automation of repetitive tasks
Truly, the "minimum personnel unicorn model" is now possible.
6. What's important is not the technology, but "what can you do with the technology"
Ruby + Rails gives small teams unbelievable productivity.
And in the era of AI, this productivity increases 3-5 times.
So the answer is clear.
Can you start a company with Rails?
→ YES. Rails is originally the framework for entrepreneurs.Can a unicorn be achieved with the minimum number of people?
→ YES. It's now more possible than ever.
And if you've read this far,
you've already started half of it.
The technology is sufficient,
AI is by your side,
and Rails is the perfect tool.
Now, there's only one thing you need.
"What service do you want to create?"
The moment you find that answer,
the journey to becoming a unicorn begins that day.